Superstar
by shizuke
Summary: Shuichi Shindou was a internationally-acclaimed star. But before all the fame, he was a kid who joined the Sakuma Ryuichi Impersonation Contest.


Disclaimer: we all know this one so why bother?

Pairings: YukiShuichi, RyuichiTatsuha

--

It all began with the Sakuma Ryuichi Impersonation Competition. Like the name implicated, it was a competition to discover who could best impersonate Nittle Grasper's Sakuma Ryuichi in all of Japan. Needless to say, Shuichi wanted in.

Never mind the fact that the competition was held during a school day. Never mind the fact that it also coincided with his midterms. School and exams were out of thought and mind wherever Nittle Grasper was concerned. It also helped greatly that his best friend, Nakano was all for him skipping school and attending the competition at the Shibuya shopping district.

But when Shuichi had asked him to come along to give him moral support, Nakano had deftly replied, "Go by yourself. I'm attending midterms," and returned to studying.

Therefore, it was with Nakano's barely existent moral support and shaky confidence that Shuichi took the train to Shibuya where the competition would be held in the open, courting passers-by as its audience. On the train, he couldn't stop fidgeting.

He had done his level best to look exactly like his idol, Sakuma. He'd dyed his pink locks to a dark mauve green, and he's lavender irises were hidden behind brown-coloured contacts. He'd even rummaged his closet in search of the flamboyant body-hugging outfits Sakuma Ryuichi seemed to be so fond of.

The outfit he'd chosen revealed a wide expanse of his slim stomach as well as the slender legs he'd caught many girls looking enviously at. Still, his nerves were shaken as he stepped out into Shibuya and a crowd of people, many of which who also looked like Sakuma Ryuichi.

In front of a shopping complex was a large raised platform with a billboard proclaiming 'SAKUMA RYUICHI IMPERSONATION CONTEST 2005' at the back. Already, the platform was occupied with the equipment needed for voice projection and television broadcasting.

People milled round it; some curious and others excited. It was almost scary to see about fifty other people in similar getups and hairstyles but the people who frequented at Shibuya were already used to this level of cosplay. Most of them looked on interestingly as they sat by the sidelines eating crepes or soft serves.

Shuichi's level of anxiety rose a notch. He hadn't anticipated this many people participating. He gulped. How were they going to judge this competition? Were they expected to walk, act and talk like Sakuma Ryuichi? No, it had to be something more seeing that the grand prize was a limited edition signed copy of the Nittle Grasper World Tour concert before the group disbanded. This was the concert made famous by the encore scene where Sakuma had a short make out session with his keyboardist, Seguchi Tohma.

"Alright, everyone who's participating in the competition please give your name at the registration counter in front of the stage," said a microphone-amplified voice.

There was a huge surge in the crowd and Shuichi found himself plummeting forward as the people around him pushed forward to get to the registration counter. At that moment, Shuichi regretted his petite stature. He nearly died of suffocation within the huge crowd of people and had only managed to get fresh air when he climbed on top of someone.

"Hiro, wish you were here," muttered Shuichi wistfully.

Not so far away, hidden backstage behind the platform was an indigo-haired beautiful lady, wearing clothes too skimpy for her age and blood red lips. She was observing the proceedings from a corner of the raised platform and she was enjoying what she saw.

"Tohma," she said, tugging the sleeve of her companion. "The boy who's climbed onto that man's shoulders...doesn't he look almost too much like Ryu-chan?"

The blond, conniving producer of NG Productions looked up from his documents and glanced at the boy the lady pointed at. He smiled, "True, he does look like Sakuma Ryuichi...which is more than what I can say about the rest of them," he added in a perturbed voice.

The lady had to agree. Some of the competition participants were old burly men, who's squeezed themselves into yards of latex. Some were obviously drag kings, and hideous ones at that. But the worst one was probably the man who had Schwarzenegger muscles but was trying hard to look at home in Sakuma's white frilly shirt.

Seguchi Tohma could only imagine the nightmares he would have following this experience. Maybe he shouldn't have agreed to judge this pointless publicity competition. His lady companion put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel," she said sympathetically. "By the way, didn't you say your brother-in-law was going to drop by today? Where is he?"

"Ah, you mean Eiri-san?" replied Tohma pleasantly. "He hates these crowds. No doubt he's in a cafe nearby, sipping coffee and typing away on his laptop."

--

"One Affogato - two shots of espresso." The mysterious blond man who had entered the cafe with a laptop and an air of nonchalance had attracted attention almost effortlessly. Whether it was because of the grace in which he walked, the elegance in his footsteps or the pure sexiness that exuded from his very being, he held the ability to stir up unwanted thoughts in other people.

However, Yuki Eiri deeply resented this ability of his. Never in his life had he ever desired to be a sex symbol, which was why he had chosen the extremely low profile profession as a writer. But no matter what he did, it seemed as though everyone couldn't get enough of his good looks.

'How stupid,' he thought to himself as he perched a cigarette between his lips and logged on into his word processor. He was slightly distracted, however, when someone occupied the table next to his with a loud scraping of a chair.

He turned and noted with slight surprise that it was Sakuma Ryuichi. But then he remembered the competition that Tohma told him was on today and Eiri reasoned that this person next to him was nobody but a Sakuma Ruichi wannabe. But he looked scarily alike to the singing legend.

Eiri observed passively as the Sakuma Ryuichi lookalike ordered a fruit juice and returned to his stream of dark mutterings. "Stupid crowd...I nearly couldn't breathe...accidentally bumped into muscle man in spandex...aa, I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight." He shivered.

The blond writer blocked out the Sakuma Ryuichi lookalike's whining, deciding that it was too annoying. He lit his cigarette and started on the next installment of his romance novel.

"Hey, you're not supposed to smoke in here."

It took Eiri a while to realise that the sentence was directed to him. He plucked the cigarette from his lips with his long fingers and glared witheringly at the Sakuma Ryuichi lookalike. "What was that?"

The boy gestured at the No Smoking sign on the cafe wall. "You can't smoke in here."

Eiri raised an eyebrow; a cool move despite the annoyance he felt towards the boy. "Is that so?" he said monotonously. He crushed the tip of the cigarette onto his napkin and looked at the boy again. "There. Are you happy?" he asked in a patronising tone.

The boy glared angrily at him but had no response. If he were smart enough, he could've picked on Eiri's disrespect towards him but Shuichi wasn't that bright. Instead, he crossed his arms, harrumphed, and looked away, his lower lip protruding childishly.

Eiri was a little stunned at the boy's immature response and chose not to respond. Still, there was an amused smile lurking on his lips as he began typing on his laptop. For a double espresso, his coffee was sweeter than expected.

--

Exactly as Shuichi had anticipated, the competition wasn't as simple as walking, talking or acting like Sakuma Ryuichi. The Sakuma Ryuichi the world knew was firstly and essentially a singer. Therefore it would make sense that impersonating Sakuma Ryuichi would also mean singing like him as well.

Shuichi had finished his fruit juice in time to hear Nakazato Junji being called up to the stage by the competition's emcee. Nakazato was a twenty-year old slender-looking man who had limbs too long to look like Sakuma but at least he wasn't another bodybuilder in spandex.

"So Nakazato, tell us what you love most about Sakuma Ryuichi?" asked the emcee in a less than enthusiastic voice. Interviewing spandex-wearing bodybuilders could wear you down like that.

"Well," said Nakazato, "everything, I suppose. That sultry voice and his sexy body...it gives me shivers just thinking about it."

The emcee started edging away from Nakazato, slightly freaked out. He knew that he would encounter with horny Ryuichi gay fans but he had to admit that he wasn't entirely prepared for it. He wouldn't be surprised if Nakazato tried to strip to show his adoration for Sakuma Ryuichi. But this was a live telecast, hence, stripping was not allowed.

"That's very nice, Nakazato-kun," said the emcee. "You know the challenge. Pick a Nittle Grasper song and sing a portion of it. The person who best imitates Sakuma Ryuichi's singing and actions while performing wins this competition."

That said, the emcee, along with a few others in the organising committee, plugged their ears with tissue. They had already anticipated that there would be bad singing involved. Some had even brought noise-cancelling headphones to help bear the torture.

To his credit, Nakazato wasn't bad. He had a decent voice; not one that Seguchi would want under his label anytime soon, but at least it wasn't nail-against-chalkboard bad.

Once his turn was up, the emcee thanked Nakazato very loudly to stop him from singing any further. "And next up, we have Shindou Shuichi-kun! Can you come up to the stage Shindou Shuichi-kun."

The moment he heard his name, he felt he heart fall to the pit of his stomach and there was no retrieving it. His palms started to sweat and his limbs had turned to steel. He didn't remember ever feeling this nervous in his life. Shit, what should he do? His legs wouldn't move.

This was why he needed Hiro. He needed someone to tell him that he could do it; that he wouldn't mess up.

"Is that you they're calling?"

His surprise had cracked his panic enough to allow him to look at the person who was speaking. It was that beautiful blond from the cafe. He was leaning against the door jamb of the cafe entrance and was observing things from a safe distance away. "Why aren't you going up?"

Shuichi swallowed, but even then his throat felt dry. He stared at the blond stranger almost longingly.

"Shindou Shuichi-kun? Are you here?" the emcee called out.

The blond smirked. "Do your best. You'll be fine."

The youth drew in a short breath. He felt warmth pooling in his stomach and then spreading to every part of his body. His limbs felt as if they could move now and his voice worked again. He continued to stare at the beautiful man, mesmerised. Who was he? He had this charisma that made him feel comfortable.

"Shindou Shuichi-kun? If you're not here then-"

"I'M HERE!" yelled Shuichi, nearly deafening the people around him. He pushed his way towards the platform, ran up the wooden steps and appeared before the emcee, panting from the effort. He straightened up and looked out at the huge crowd. His heart was still hammering with nervousness but he knew he could do this. Eyes shining with a new confidence, he said again, "I'm here."

The emcee was more than pleased. Finally, someone who looked decent enough to interview. "Shindou-kun, I must say that yours is one of the most convincing getups I've seen all day. So, what is it about Sakuma Ryuichi that made you want to look like him?"

Shuichi took the microphone and grinned out to everyone. "Because he is Sakuma Ryuichi! He's the man that changed my life! He made me want to sing!"

"That's a wonderful answer, Shindou-kun, because now you will have to sing a song for us," crowed the emcee. "Tell us, which song do you want?"

Oh...

He hadn't really thought about that. It was a mini dilemma for Shuichi who knew all the Nittle Grasper songs by heart. Of course, his favourite would always remain Be There but at the moment, the song that resonated most with his feelings would be...

Shuichi grinned. "Sleepless Beauty."

"Alright, we have Shindou Shuichi-kun with Sleepless Beauty!" announced the emcee.

The intro of the song blared from the speakers. Unfortunately, the audience was less than hyped. They had witnessed performance after performance and it was up to Shuichi to bring them something new. His eyes searched for the blond stranger and he found him standing by the cafe, lips tilted in a smirk.

_Thank you_.

"Let your eyes shine from far away for the people who have awakened are waiting," he sang. He held the microphone against him like a lover and he twirled around the stage as the rhythm of the song grabbed hold of him and sucked him in.

With that same energy, he threw himself out to the audience, hoping to catch their hearts. Instead, he stole their breath away with the authenticity of his performance and the deep sparkle in his eyes. Throughout the performance, he danced with the lyrics, almost as if they were the words of his heart.

His movements grabbed the audience's attention and his voice made them stay.

When the song was reaching an end, Shuichi twirled around and once again, he sought out the blond stranger. "Hold me gently, always catch me..." This time, he leaned out from the stage, reaching out his hand as though he wanted to touch him. "...again and again, in order to break my heart."

Shuichi lifted his microphone into the air as the song closed. The crowd was sold. They cheered animatedly for him, for his electrifying performance. Shuichi took a deep breath and bowed graciously, which was very uncharacteristic of him. But he was still trying to come down of his high from performing in front of such a large crowd. This exhilaration was almost addictive. He felt as if he never wanted to get off the stage.

In the sidelines, the indigo-haired lady gave a small smile. "That was the most convincing performances all day. What do you think, Tohma?"

"He has talent," said the famed producer. "But he will need some work."

"I recognise that glint in your eye, Tohma," said the lady. "You're planning something."

"You know me too well, Noriko-san," replied Tohma with a soft smile.

"SHINDOU-KUN, THAT WAS AMAZING!" yelled the emcee into his microphone. "You even got the whole crowd cheering for you! Where have you been hiding all this while? That voice is a treasure!"

Shuichi grinned sheepishly. "Thanks! I practiced a lot in my bathroom!"

"Now you know his secret, folks! Practice a lot in your bathroom! Don't care what your family says! And if you're interested in the music business, Shindou-kun," the emcee added in a low voice as he handed Shuichi a business card, "give me a call."

The young high-schooler was still in a daze as he descended from the platform with the business card in his hand. _SAKANO_, it read. _Producer, NG Productions._

NG Productions...

The company that had been set up by Nittle Grasper's Seguchi Tohma...

_The _NG Productions by _the _Seguchi Tohma!

...Hiro was never going to believe this.

"Congratulations."

Shuichi immediately snapped out from his slightly stupefied thoughts and was faced again with the tall beautiful man from the cafe. He hadn't realised that his feet had thoughtlessly brought him back to the cafe where the man was, standing against the door as if he was waiting for him.

Shuichi managed a weak smile, still blown by the series of events that had taken place. "T-thanks. I owe you..."

"Excellent," said the blond man. "Pay for my coffee."

"Eh?! Is that how you reply to someone who is sincerely grateful to you? What a meanie!" exclaimed Shuichi in dismay. But before the man could retort, Shuichi continued on rambling, "But fine, if you want to use my gratitude to get out of paying for your own coffee then it's fine. I guess it's better that I repay the favour with just a cup of coffee. At least you're not asking me to do anything big. So I should be grateful again, I think?"

Unbeknownst to Shuichi, Eiri was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Shuichi's ramblings were nonsensical to the point of being funny and to Yuki Eiri who had stayed up the whole of last night, a little bit of humour was good for him right now.

"You, are you always like this?" Eiri wanted to know.

"Eh?" Shuichi paused in mid-rant and contemplated the question. "Well, yes...I think. I know it's bad. It's annoying. I know people hate me for it but I can't exactly change it. I mean, how do you change who you are when you're so used to being yourself? For example, how can you like apples if you've like bananas all your life? Or if you've liked someone, how can you stop...liking - sorry, that's out of topic."

"No, that's not out of topic at all. Seriously, continue," said Eiri, truly interested for the first time since the boy spoke. "How do you stop liking someone?"

"It's nothing," insisted Shuichi. He cursed his babbling mouth. Of all the things he could ramble about, he had to leak out his sad love life and to this tall beautiful man who'd helped him out too! He didn't want this man to think he was a sad pathetic loser like...like _him_. "Thanks for your concern but -"

Eiri held Shuichi's chin with his fingers, lifting it up till the boy's eyes met his. "Is there something you don't want to tell, Shindou Shuichi-kun?"

Shuichi felt shivers run down his spine. What was it about this man that made him feel so shaken? He swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut. "Like I said, it's nothing," he said forcefully. "Really, it's nothing, so you don't...you don't have to worry about it."

"Who said I was worried about it? I just thought you were an interesting kid, that's all." He bent down and placed a fleeting kiss on Shuichi's lips and walked away before Shuichi even opened his eyes or registered the fact that he'd just been kissed.

Shuichi felt like he was trapped within a whirlwind of thrilling emotions. First, the exhilarating performance, then receiving acknowledgement from a NG producer and now this. What next?

--

During the short fifteen minute break in the competition, the emcee Sakano retired backstage with a cup of cold water and a handkerchief. Tohma and Noriko were waiting for him in the wings. Sakano felt his blood freeze.

NG president, Tohma and his friend from his Nittle Grasper days, Noriko, made a formidable duo that made anyone want to run for the hills. While Noriko was the expert of aggressive interrogation, Tohma had all the crazy connections to powerful people all over the world. Nobody knew how he made them but common sense dictated that Seguchi Tohma could do anything if he put his mind to it.

"Thanks for you hard work out there, Sakano-san," said Tohma with his ever-cheerful smile. "It must be hard hosting an event with so many people."

"N-n-not at all, Mr. President," replied Sakano nervously.

"We saw it. You gave that Shindou boy your card?" said Noriko in a displeased tone.

"Huh? Uh...yes. I thought he had talent-"

"Sakano-san," interjected Tohma, "here at NG, we expect a standard of achievement even from our newcomers and while Shindou has talent, I don't think he has reached that level yet. To offer him a connection to our company was the worst possible move. I don't want him to think himself good enough to have already landed a contract with us. It would've been better to kick him somewhere else."

Sakano slid onto his knees in dismay. He knew that NG's terms were steep but he had never known how tough the president had made it. He looked up at the blond man and could see thoughts of firing him passing behind the man's expression. As expected of Seguchi Tohma, the man who was toasted as Forbes' number one most powerful man in the music industry.

"Don't be so hard on him, Tohma, He didn't know, right Sakano-san?" The speaker emerged from the wings, smiling pleasantly as he strode towards Sakano and patted him on the shoulder. Brown eyes glinted underneath a white cowboy hat. "Besides, I find Shindou very interesting as well."

Tohma sighed. "As I knew you would. But I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you weren't interested and was going to stay in the hotel."

The other man grinned and held up a stuffed pink rabbit. "Kumagorou got bored of the hotel so we came to see how things were going on with you. What do you think? Should I appear onstage?"

"Do as you wish, Ryuichi-san," said Tohma as he flipped open his mobile. "But I'll need to alert more TV stations and newspapers if the Nittle Grasper's lead singer is going to make an appearance."

Sakuma Ryuichi shared a particularly scheming grin with his ex-keyboardist but immediately turned childlike the next minute. "Tohma's the best! Kumagorou thinks so too!" He lifted the stuffed rabbit to plant a small kiss on Tohma's cheek and skipped away singing, "Na no, na no, na no da!" to himself.

But the moment he was out of eyesight and earshot, Ryuichi's seriousness returned. It had been so long since he was electrified by a performance and he had forgotten the thrill of being onstage; of capturing the audience and bringing them with him to the faraway places of his songs. But after what he'd just witnessed, he felt his old blood boiling again, raring to grab the mike and sing his heart out.

Shindou Shuichi...his potential wasn't to be underestimated. To be able to even make Sakuma Ryuichi feel threatened by that much was a huge accomplishment. Despite that, Ryuichi's yearning to sing with the boy was far larger than his wish to crush him underfoot. It was all very curious.

He had never let another singer share his stage before this. Perhaps this was the beginning of a whole new arc in his life and the music industry.

"SAKUMA-SAN!"

Ryuichi was nearly literally bowled over as he felt a huge force pummel him from behind and embrace him with strong hands. He quickly shed his seriousness and turned to look at his attacker with a cute, "Hee?"

He saw a head of full black hair with equally piercing midnight eyes. He knew this boy: one of the ladykiller Uesugi brothers. Ryuichi grinned childishly and exclaimed, "Eiri-chan! Long time no see!"

The man pouted, which spoiled the cool facade that his sharp features produced. "I'm not Eiri, Sakuma-san. It's me - Tatsuha!"

"Ui?" Ryuichi blinked adorably. "Tatsuha...? Who's that?" He looked on amusedly as the other man had his own private breakdown, going from a shocked expression to threatening to slit his wrists to show his sadness. "Don't be sad, Eiri-chan!" consoled Ryuichi. "You might get to see me perform later!"

He bounced off to the small area backstage, where he had been watching the entire competition. Uesugi Tatsuha could only follow with crumbling spirits. He knew he looked a lot like his older brother Eiri but for his idol and the love of his life to mistaken him so was heartbreaking.

But he tried not to show his disappointment as he sat next to Ryuichi and watched the second half of the competition. If anything, Tatsuha prided himself for his perseverance and he wouldn't give up until Ryuichi remembered his name.

--

The second half of the competition was by no means as exciting as the first. As the evening wore on, the crowd dwindled and the television crews and reporters present were feeling restless. But eventually, the people returned as the end of the competition neared and the results were to be announced.

Shuichi had spent the entire second half of the competition looking for the beautiful blond man. There was no way he was going to let some man kiss him and get away with it. He had very nearly forgotten about the competition; that the results were going to be announced and that there was a high chance that he would win.

Had he paid closer attention, he would've realised that everyone in the audience were still chattering excitedly about his performance. Some even declared that he was the real Sakuma Ryuichi who had joined the competition for publicity's sake. But all that praise flew right over Shuichi's head as he combed the Shibuya shopping district for his mysterious man.

But as five o' clock drew nearer, Shuichi conceded defeat. He was soaked with sweat from running around and he was thirsty and hungry. The last Sakuma Ryuichi impersonator was singing onstage and his lousy voice grated on his nerves. He returned to the cafe, where he had ordered juice earlier, and slumped into one of its seats.

"Excuse me, one glass of ice water, please," he said hoarsely.

There was a smothered scoff next to him. "Running around aimlessly when it's so close to summer. Are you crazy?"

Shuichi whipped his head around and saw the blond man sitting by the table next to him. How in the world did he not notice him? The blond stranger glared superiorly at him as he ran his fingers over the rim of his coffee cup, almost suggestively. But worse of all, he was smoking.

For Shuichi, that was the last straw. He stood up and snatched the cigarette away from the stranger's lips. "Didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to smoke in this place?"

Eiri glared at him with such force that Shuichi backed away. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, making Shuichi recoil with fear. Shuichi started to take several steps away from the man, thinking, 'Shit, I made him mad! Shit, I made him mad! Shit, I made him mad!'

All prayers were for naught as Eiri grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the cafe and towards the back alley. There, Eiri released his arm and grabbed the front of his shirt instead. "Who are you?" he demanded in a guttural voice. "What right did you have to dance into my mind and stay there without my permission?"

At this point, Shuichi's mind was a total blank from shock and fear so all he could say was, "Eh?!"

Eiri muttered a soft curse. He considered to make his next novel a fantasy one, where the girl was a sorceress who put a spell on the guy to make him unable to think about anything but her. No, that was weak even if he tried to put it in context.

Then, he felt lips. He felt lips covering his, with a tongue licking his lower lip meekly before pulling away quickly. Shuichi extricated himself from the man, blushing at the audacity of what he had just done. "I wanted to thank you," he murmured, "for the kiss. And I paid for your coffee...so with that, we don't owe one another anything."

"...is that so?" Eiri touched his lips, shuddering slightly at the memory of the shy tongue wondering if it had anything right licking his lip. Eiri lowered his head till his mouth was leveled with Shuichi's ear. "You say that, but can you really bring yourself to forget about me?" he whispered huskily, his soft breath causing shivers to run all over Shuichi's body.

"ALRIGHT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE TIME HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! OUR JUDGES HAVE RATED ALL THE PERFORMANCES THEY'VE SEEN TODAY AND WE HAVE A WINNER!" Sakano's voice blared over all of Shibuya.

Eiri released Shuichi and took a step backwards. Really, what had he been thinking? Messing around with a boy? He sighed at his own stupidity and walked away, leaving Shuichi stunned and speechless in the alleyway.

Shuichi stared on wordlessly as his mysterious blond stranger padded away from him and didn't move till he was out of sight. He had never felt so overwhelmed before; not by anything. He bit his lip, wondering what he should do now. That man was gone. Should he forget any of this ever happened? Then again, the man was right. Could he ever forget this?

"AND THE BEST SAKUMA RYUICHI WE'VE SEEN TODAY IS - "

Somewhere backstage, Ryuichi smirked. "Shindou Shuichi."

"-SHINDOU SHUICHI-KUN!"

A loud chorus of cheers erupted from the audience. It had almost been too obvious who would win but everyone wanted to see Shindou Shuichi onstage again. Those who had not seen his performance were eager to see how good he actually was. On his way back to the cafe where his laptop still was, Yuki Eiri paused in his tracks and looked back at the stage.

In the alleyway, Shuichi frowned. Wait, had he heard right or was he still dreaming? He roused himself enough to walk out from the alley into the open space where the competition was held. There were more people crowding around the stage than he remembered. In fact, the crowd size was double than that when he had performed earlier.

"SHINDOU SHUICHI-KUN, PLEASE COME UP TO THE STAGE!" exclaimed the emcee.

Still not entirely sure what was going on, Shuichi struggled to make his way to the stage. When he finally managed to get on, all eyes were on him. The television video cameras were are pointed at him and reporters had their pen tip against their notepad, ready to take down his words.

"Eh?" said a very confused Shuichi. "What's going on?"

The emcee Sakano smiled warmly at Shuichi. "You won, boy. YOU WON THE SAKUMA RYUICHI IMPERSONATION COMPETITION OF 2005!" There was a loud sound like a gunshot and Shuichi was showered in confetti.

A slow smile made its way onto his face. He chuckled at first, as if he couldn't believe this was happening. And then he could. Everything that had happened to him today was hardly believable. So why not? He grabbed Sakano and did a little jig of excitement. "I WON?" he exclaimed.

"YOU WON!" Sakano yelled back.

"WAHOO -! I won! I won! I -"

"I see that you're still as stupid as ever, Shuichi." That voice alone made Shuichi stop cold in his tracks. This was the last voice he wanted to hear today. He didn't mind hearing his teacher, mouthing him off for skipping school; or even his mother, screaming at him for missing his exams. Anyone but him. Shuichi never wanted to see this guy again.

He steeled his nerves and balled his hands into fists. "What are you doing here, Taki?"

NG's ASK lead singer smirked from where he stood on the platform. "So it's Taki now, is it? I remember when you used to call me Ai-kun. When did you turn so cold, Shu-chan?"

"Don't call me that," said Shuichi angrily. "Only the people who are close to me can call me that."

Why, of all people, did Taki show up? Should he have expected this seeing as the competition was partly sponsored by NG Productions, the same label which hired Taki's band? Although it had been so many months ago, memories of Taki came rushing to the forefront of his mind - starting from the time he'd confessed his love and ending when Taki had dumped him mercilessly, leaving him...

He felt his will crumbling as the memory from months ago came back to haunt him. It was still all too fresh; the feeling of cold unwanted hands against his flesh and the sheer powerlessness he'd felt in the situation. Oh shit, he was freezing up again!

"Aw, don't tell me you're still in love with me, Shuichi," taunted the other singer cruelly. "I think it's cute that you're trying to get back into my life by trying to get signed by the same label, but you have to learn to take a hint. It's over between us. It has been for months."

Shuichi felt cold, sad fury filling up his insides. He wanted to break down but to do that in front of five different television cameras would be humiliating. If he did that, the media would surely dig into his past and find out about...about what happened to him. That would be mortifying. What's left of his pride and reputation would be ripped to shreds.

He stood rooted to the spot and for a long moment, nobody did anything, until...

"Shu-chan!"

Shuichi lifted his head. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw his mysterious blond stranger climb up to the stage. He walked passed Taki Aizawa, glaring at the man as he did so, and walked over to Shuichi, whom he patted on the head. "What are you doing, Shu-chan? Freezing onstage with the whole of Japan watching is so unlike you...or do you want to give me more stuff to tease you about tonight?"

Shuichi's face lit up like a bright tomato. "What are you talking about?" he demanded in an outrage. "Who's freezing onstage in front of Japan? Not me! Not Shindou Shuichi! I live for the stage!"

"That's good," said Eiri with a small smirk. He bent down and pecked Shuichi on the cheek. "I'll see you after you finish up." With that, he turned to walk off the stage but again he glared at Taki Aizawa. "You," he said coldly. "You come within three feet of my Shu-chan and I'll turn you into garbage."

Eiri calmly walked offstage, lighting a cigarette as he did so. He took a deep breath as he walked further away from the stage and tapped the ash off his cigarette. Well...that was fun.

Back to the competition, everyone had remained silent during Eiri's interlude. Everyone was still trying to absorb the implications of his words and actions. Unlike Shuichi, most of the audience recognised the popular ladykiller writer, Yuki Eiri. So Yuki Eiri was dating Shindou Shuichi, who used to go out with Taki Aizawa, and Yuki Eiri asked Taki Aizawa to leave Shindou Shuichi alone.

The females in the crowd started to scream excitedly. "How romantic and cool!" they gushed.

Television show directors were slapping their cameramen on the arm. "Did you get that? Did you get all of that?"

"Yes, with close ups and three different angles."

Backstage, things were no less tumultuous. "What was Eiri-san doing onstage?" demanded Tohma hysterically. "More importantly, why does he know Shindou and acting lovey dovey with him?" Noriko was left trying to comfort the man and she was one button away from calling his wife.

In the wings, Tatsuha was trying to collect his jaw from the ground. What was his brother doing here? And since when was his brother gay? Well, at least he had good taste. His so called lover looked almost exactly like his beloved Sakuma-san. Ryuichi was merely looking on with interest.

He was right to not have underestimated Shindou Shuichi. He had not yet signed to any label and already his name would undoubtedly grace the newspapers and gossip columns of tomorrow morning. But something had to be done about that meddlesome Taki Aizawa.

He leaned back and managed to catch Tohma's eyes. Tohma stopped ranting just enough to send a reassuring look back at Ryuichi before reassuming his hysterics about his Eiri having another lover.

If you think Tohma was experiencing an emotional overload, think about how Shuichi must be feeling right now. At that moment, he didn't even know what to think. Luckily, Sakano got things rolling for him. After Taki was escorted offstage, rather roughly because he had interrupted without permission, Sakano resumed his narrative.

"Congratulations on winning the competition, Shindou-kun!" said Sakano. "I'm sure you already know what your prize it but before that, would you please sing for us once again and prove to everyone here that you are the best Sakuma Ryuichi impersonator in all of Japan!"

Shuichi grinned. "I -"

"He's not the best Sakuma Ryuichi impersonator in all of Japan," said a loud voice cutting Shuichi off.

All heads turned to another man who had just appeared from back stage. He was slim and slender, like Shuichi, with a black jacket open in the middle to reveal a toned chest and stomach, body-hugging leather pants and combat boots. Silver necklaces dangled from his long neck and a white cowboy hat graced his head.

He smirked as he took a microphone for himself. "The best Sakuma Ryuichi impersonator in all of Japan...is Sakuma Ryuichi himself. Wouldn't you agree, Shuichi?"

The cheers that followed was almost deafening. Everyone, including the mass media, was going crazy. Sakuma Ryuichi was here. The legendary Nittle Grasper lead vocalist, winner of countless Japanese Music Awards, and who had even received major recognition overseas, Sakuma Ryuichi was here!

Shuichi nearly dropped his microphone. This was the man who changed his life. He owed his passion to this man and this man was standing about three feet away from him. It was all he could do not to burst out in tears there and then.

"Would you like to duet with me, Shuichi-kun?" asked Ryuichi.

Shuichi gripped his microphone hard. This wasn't the time or place to lose it. This was the ultimate chance of a lifetime and he was going to take it. "Whenever you're ready, Sakuma-san."

Ryuichi grinned in reply.

This time, it was almost a no brainer which song they would sing. The intro for Be There blared from the speakers and the crowd went crazy."I've come to a treacherous border, I know its time to say goodbye." Shuichi started singing first. He was filled with nervous energy and was all over the place.

But then Ryuichi started singing. "But you can help me restore order, before we let our love die." And everything was okay. Their voices matched. They sung in the same key with the same tonality. It was almost as if they'd been singing together all their life.

The chorus rolled in and they both pumped it out together. "_HELP ME, SOMEBODY, HELP ME!"_ There was no one in the crowd that did not feel the electricity. Even Tohma closed his eyes to revel in the pure energy of the delivery. Noriko smiled.

"I think Sakano-san'd made the right move," she said.

To Ryuichi and Shuichi, there was nothing other than the music, the stage and the people. The stage was their ship. Music was their engine and the people were the unchartered seas they'd set out to conquer. And conquer them they did. Before the song even ended, the people were demanding an encore.

Ryuichi laughed out loud in enjoyment. It'd been ages since he felt so thrilled. But doing another song would be pushing it. NG Productions had only booked the open space till six and it was already half past five. The crew still needed time to pack and clean up.

Instead, he took the DVD prize from Sakano and handed it personally to Shuichi. "Congratulations, Shuichi-kun. If you ever want to go karaoke together, just give me a ring." He scribbled his phone number onto the back of the DVD cover in marker and gave Shuichi a farewell hug. "We were awesome today."

Shuichi stood stunned as his idol left the stage, waving at him as he did so. He returned the wave dazedly. Hiro was never going to believe what he had went through today. Then again, maybe he might. There were five different television channels broadcasting this, after all.

After being interviewed countless times and congratulated by every one on the street, Shuichi managed to get away enough to take the train back home. Everyone in the train was staring at him. Most of them were salarymen taking the ride home and had no idea why a young man would dress in such skimpy leather.

He arrived at his doorstep in one piece. Upon entering his house, he was greeted with excited squeals from both his mother and sister, which he deftly ignored as he headed straight for his room and locked the door behind him. He also ignored the pounding and screaming that ensued since his mother and sister wanted to know all the details of what had happened today.

Instead, he took out his mobile and dialed a familiar number. "Hey, Hiro..."

--

Next chapter: Shuichi faces the brunt of his newfound popularity, Tatsuha tries a new tactic to gain Ryuichi's attention and so much more!!

--

A/N: Forgive the long rant. I was in the zone.


End file.
